Pros and cons of paid advertising

Pros:

Digital advertising: Ventures often make the mistake of thinking it takes a lot of investment to deliver effective ads on digital channels. This is not so. With very little spend, you can get in and quickly A/B test ads (e.g., the creative, message and target audience) to see what works and what doesn’t, and then optimize.

Analytics: With digital ads, analytics provide instant feedback. You can quickly learn what

works and what does not, and immediately respond to optimize your marketing ads

Display ads: These have a wide reach. Display ads are primarily used to build awareness and are typically cost less than more targeted Facebook or SEM advertising

Search ads: These target those who have actively searched on your keywords, so you know you are reaching an interested audience

Social ads: These also reach a targeted audience and, if done well, are effective and shareable and can be used to build awareness of your product. In the case of Facebook ads, Facebook Ads Manager streamlines the process for you to set up an account and create and measure the performance of ads

Cons:

Anonymous traffic: Digital ads may generate traffic, but if they don’t yield sales, you may be attracting the wrong visitors. This is hard to know at first since you can’t actually see the customers

Social ads: These have a short shelf life and need to be refreshed often

YouTube influencers: You cede some control when you let someone else represent your brand

Is your audience local or in a broader geographical area? If the latter, are there regional, linguistic or cultural nuances you need to consider?

Key growth tactics and strategies

Social ads are a great way to build awareness of your product and attract visitors to your website who you can then move down the customer acquisition funnel

Keep referring back to your customer discovery data on your target customer. Use this information to inform your tactics and your messaging

Consider where your customer is most likely to see your ad (online vs. offline, print vs. TV, LinkedIn vs. Snapchat, etc.). If you’re not sure where to find your customer online or offline, get out there and talk to some of them to get to know them better

Optimize your digital ads for mobile (phones, tablets) as well as laptops. Try to deliver a consistent experience across all devices. Keep your messaging to the point with a clear call-to-action and avoid fussy images

Keep your copy conversational—remember, you are marketing to humans

In addition to the measurable impact of a campaign, your digital advertising can help with: